Panasonic donates 1,000 eco-friendly light bulbs to Indonesian village

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Thu, 04/26/2012

Japanese electronics firm Panasonic is calling on Indonesians to save energy and cut down on carbon dioxide emissions, through its "Eco Ideas" program of corporate social responsibility for villages.

"We are working together with an electronics retail company, Electronic City, to donate about 1,000 eco-friendly light bulbs to 651 household heads at Warung Kadu village in Purwakarta regency, West Java, where each family will receive three light bulbs," said Ronny Heribertus, Panasonic’s company spokesman, as quoted by kompas.com.

The 11-watt sustainable light bulbs can generate the kind of light similar to a 60-watt bulb. These so-called "eco spiral" bulbs can save 80 percent of electricity and last 10 thousand hours.

Panasonic's "Eco Ideas" program aimed to help Indonesian communities change their energy-consumption patterns so that they could save on energy, Ronny said on Tuesday.

Researchers Turn Common Indonesian Plant Into Alternative Fuel

Jakarta Globe, Ismira Lutfia | January 07, 2011     

In an effort to wean rural communities off inefficient and costly kerosene, Indonesian researchers have developed an alternative fuel from a common plant.

Researchers say the fruit of the bintaro can be used to
 make an oil that may be able to replace kerosene.  

The new fuel is derived from the seed of the sea mango tree (Cerbera manghas), known locally as bintaro.

Aris Purwanto, head of the research team at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said the idea came after rising kerosene prices in the Teluk Meranti area of the Riau Islands forced villagers to switch to burning wood for cooking.

“The bintaro tree grows all year round and a tree of at least three years of age can produce an average of 300 to 400 fruit a year,” Aris said during a presentation on Wednesday.

To extract the bintaro oil, researchers removed the seeds from the ripened fruit, then dried and crushed them. Aris said 2.9 kilograms of seed yielded one liter of oil.

In an interesting aside, he said the seed kernels contain the toxic substance cerberin, which is often used by local farmers to poison wild animal pests that damage their crops.

“Even in its raw phase, the oil can be used to fuel an electricity generator,” Aris said.

But the researchers experimented further, refining the oil by mixing it with water and storing it until an oil-water dispersion was achieved.

This refined oil, they said, can be used to fuel a fire, such as in a kerosene stove.

However, Aris said that because it had a much higher viscosity than kerosene or diesel, and hence different combustion properties, stoves and generators would have to be modified slightly to ensure the oil worked.

The viscosity difference means that the bintaro oil is too thick to vaporize into a flammable spray, as required in the combustion chamber of a kerosene stove or diesel-powered generator.

To use it to power a generator, for instance, a converter must first be used to heat the oil to 70 degrees Celsius to lower its viscosity to the level of diesel.

Even then, the generator needs to have been running for four to five minutes on diesel before the bintaro oil can be added to the external tank and the diesel supply shut off.

Aris acknowledged bintaro oil could not yet be classified as a biofuel, and was not yet a viable replacement for conventional fossil fuels.

He said that with only four months of development behind it, more research and processing was needed before bintaro oil could viably generate sufficient power to fuel heavier machinery such as motor vehicles.

In the meantime, he said, it is sufficient for basic cooking needs such as boiling water or cooking rice, allowing it to take over some of the role of kerosene.

“We aim to develop this as an alternative energy source for people in remote areas, so that they’re not overly dependent on kerosene,” he said .

He added that bintaro trees were common in many rural areas and relatively easy to grow, making it easy for villagers to collect the necessary seeds.

The tree is also frequently used in greening projects in residential areas across the country .

Marzuki Effendi, one of the Teluk Meranti villagers who attended Wednesday’s presentation, said that bintaro-fueled stoves produced an intense blue flame that brought water to the boil in just four minutes.

With kerosene, he said, boiling water took eight minutes.

Marzuki said another downside to kerosene was its high cost.

The fuel typically costs Rp 6,000 to Rp 8,000 (66 to 88 cents) per liter in the area, he said.

Kerosene distributed to the public is supposed to be subsidized by the government, although distributors almost invariably charge a commission on sales.

In addition to being expensive, it is increasingly difficult to source, a result of the government’s plan to replace it with liquefied petroleum gas.

However, the kerosene-to-gas campaign has concentrated largely on urban areas, with many rural communities yet to receive the free liquefied petroleum gas stoves and canisters that are part of the program.

Experts say biomass is feasible alternative

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 08/06/2010 9:14 PM

Amid an energy crisis and environmental campaigns to phase out the use of fossil fuels, experts agreed Friday that biomass was a suitable and feasible alternative energy source for Indonesia.

Satya Wacana Christian University biomolecular expert Ferry F. Kawur said Indonesia, with its unique tropical climate, was a fertile ground for productive plants that could be a source of environmentally friendly biomass, as reported by Antara.

Biomass sources includes living plants, dead woods and waste.

Ferry was speaking during a launch of a book titled Biomass for Alternative Energy, written by Gan Thay Kong.

Physics professor at Satya Wacana Liek Wilardjo said that people should reduce their energy consumption and also look into the possibilities of developing biomass.

Some environmentalists have supported biomass generated from waste but others oppose biomass generated from palm oil plantations, which they claim destroy primary forests in Indonesia.

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If the methane tank runs out the Bio-Bug reverts back to petrol.

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New technology generates electricity from exhaust gases

RNW, 26 July 2010 - 10:44am

A Dutch company has developed a device which recycles unused exhaust heat. The Tri-O-Gen ORC converts residual heat into electricity using the Organic Rankine Cycle.

This cycle first converts all kinds of residual heat into vapour. This expands in a turbine connected to an electric generator. The system uses no fuel except for exhaust gases or other sources of residual heat which would otherwise disappear into the atmosphere.

The installation can improve the electrical output of an engine or gas turbine by 20 percent - a huge improvement on previous methods which were limited to increases measured in tenths of a percent. It requires minimal maintenance and has no adverse effects on the environment.

The device is the result of nine years of development, experiment and sustainability testing in collaboration with the Technological University of Delft, the TNO research institute and the National Aerospace Laboratory.

The output of a single ORC is enough to meet the consumption of 300 households.

Tri-O-Gen calculates that if all the unused heat in the Netherlands were converted into electricity this way, the country would need one less coal-fired generator.

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Green cars have great market potential in RI : minister

Antara News, Saturday, July 24, 2010 03:52 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Industry Minister MS Hidayat said green cars had great market potentials in Indonesia, particularly among middle-class consumers.

"There is now a trend to use green and low-priced vehicles," the minister said after accompanying Vice President Boediono in opening the Indonesian International Motor Show (IIMS) 2010 here on Friday.

He said such four-wheel vehicles were now in high demand in Indonesia. Low-cost , energy-efficient and environmentally friendly cars had great market potentials among middle-class people in Indonesia.

However, he said, he could not promise incentives for environmentally friendly cars to enable them to gain a large market. Cars with environmentally friendly technology are more expensive than cars with regular engines.

"If vehicle manufacturers in Indonesia already use environmentally friendly technology in most of their products, then we`ll talk about incentives," said the former chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN).

But Hidayat also said t he supported the provision of incentives for environmentally-friendly cars. But the authority to give incentives, he said, was at the Ministry of Finance.

"I am not a finance minister," said Hidayat when reporters asked about the matter of incentives.

Previously, auto sole agencies (ATPMs) had called on the government to provide tax incentives for environmentally-friendly cars so that they could be sold at lower than their present prices. The price of environmentally friendly cars, such as the Toyota Prius with a hybrid engine, is now almost twice the price of cars of the same type using conventional technology (gasoline engine).

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VP tries out comforts of hybrid cars on show

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VP tries out comforts of hybrid cars on show

Antara News, Friday, July 23, 2010 19:55 WIB | Science & Tech

Jakarta  (ANTARA News) - Vice President Boediono here Friday officially opened an Indonesia International Motor Show and during a tour of the exhibition tried out the comforts of some hybrid cars.

Flanked by Industry Minister MS Hidayat, Boediono was first attracted by a Toyota FT-EV II, He slipped into the driver`s seat and listened to explanations from a stand attendant.

Holding the steering wheel Boediono looked amazed by the comfort of the green car.

After enjoying the feel of the Toyota hybrid car, the vice president did the same with similar cars of the Honda and Daihatsu brands.

Boediono opened the 10-day exhibition and then toured several stands including that of Mercedes-Benz where SLS AMG, E-Class Cabriolet cars were on display, that of Nissan showing Juke and Micra cars and that of Ford exhibiting its newest product Fiesta and that of Chevrolet displaying Spark cars and a green Transformer robot.

Suzuki in the show came up with cars that were already being marketed in the country as as well as its newest edition, Alto, and R3, the MPV concept, shown for the first time in India early this year.

Daihatsu meanwhile presented e:S which was shown in Tokyo last year plus "World Premier", which is its latest concept of a cheap car for the Indonesian market.

Mitsubishi exhibited MPV Delica D5 and PX-MiEV, a plug-in hybrid concept car.

Bumi Karsa to build hydro power plants

Antara News, Friday, July 9, 2010 19:50 WIB

Makassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Construction service company PT Bumi Karsa plans to build two micro hydro power plants in Gowa and Palopo districts, South Sulawesi, at a total cost of Rp68 billion this year.

The construction of the Gowa power plant with a capacity of 2 megawatts would cost an estimated Rp28.5 billion, Fajaruddin, the company`s director for western region, said here on Friday.

The power plant would make use of water from Tanggara River, he said.

He said the company would spend about Rp40 billion on constructing the Palopo power plant with a capacity of 4 megawatts. The power plant would take advantage of water from Kadundung River to generate electricity.

It would take one year to build the Gowa power plant and one and a half years to build the Palopo power plant, he said.

He said the company was expected to sell electrical power from the two power plants to state electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

He said the Gowa power plant would be able to meet power demand from 4,000 household customers, while the Palopo power plant would be able to supply electrical power to 5,500 household customers.

The company would start constructing the two hydro power plants shortly after it signed a cooperation contract with PT PLN, he said.

Cargill, WWF to assess palm oil suppliers in RI

Antara News, Friday, July 9, 2010 16:28 WIB

Jakarta  (ANTARA News) - Cargill is collaborating with the World Wildlife Fund-U.S. (WWF) to undertake an assessment of its palm oil suppliers in Indonesia as part of its continued commitment to sustainable palm oil production.

The assessment would help gauge current progress amongst Cargill`s suppliers to implement the principles and criteria established by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Cargill said in a press release issued from Minneapolis, the US.

"We are committed to helping lead efforts to move the palm oil industry towards more sustainable palm oil production," said Paul Conway, senior vice president at Cargill, in the released published on the company`s website.

"We already have responsible palm production policies on our own plantations and we want to play our part by working with the industry and the Indonesian government to encourage the adoption of sustainable production practices. WWF`s extensive experience will help us assess progress amongst our suppliers and will enable us to work with each supplier to implement the standards set out by the RSPO," he said.

The assessment will begin in August 2010 and the first phase will prioritize estates from Cargill`s key suppliers with the highest biodiversity concerns.

Cargill will release a summary of the overall findings and resulting action steps after the first stage of the assessment, which is expected to be complete in early 2011.

"This project is very important to WWF because it will help move the palm oil industry to higher levels of performance," said Jason Clay, senior vice president of markets at World Wildlife Fund.

Cargill has set a goal of buying 60 percent of its total crude palm oil from RSPO members by the end of 2010. It is encouraging its suppliers to join RSPO and to attain certification for all of their oil palm plantations.

Cargill`s oil palm plantation, PT. Hindoli in Sumatra, Indonesia has received the RSPO certification and smallholders at this plantation are scheduled in the next few months to be the first to be RSPO certified. It also is working towards getting RSPO certification for its other palm plantation, Harapan Sawit Lestari.

The company has its own policies in place for responsible palm production on its own plantations including commitments to not plant on high conservation value forests (HCVF); to not develop new plantations on deep peat land or land that would threaten biodiversity; and a strict no-burn policy for land preparation.

Sinar Mas reels from PR woes as Carrefour ends deals

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 07/07/2010 10:27 AM

Sinar Mas Group, a paper producer with investments in palm oil and financial services, has received another blow to the public image of its production network, as to retail giant Carrefour suspending all orders.

Carrefour has decided to cease all supplies of paper products from Sinar Mas’ subsidiary, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), following a report from Greenpeace, which claims the paper company relies on timber from two forests areas that were home to endangered species.

“Carrefour is committed to sustainable development and has decided to cease sourcing of APP supplies for private label products from mid-year this year until further notice.” Carrefour Indonesia external communication manager Hendri Satrio told The Jakarta Post in a letter.

Carrefour’s decision is the latest in a series of bad news for Sinar Mas ever since Greenpeace issued its report in June. On July 1, US-based food producer Kraft foods also decided to cease buying all paper products from APP.

On Dec. 11 last year, PT Unilever Indonesia decided not to make new orders of crude palm oil (CPO) from Sinar Mas’ subsidiary, PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART), due to Greenpeace findings that showed SMART’s oil palm operation had devastated large tracts of rainforest and peatlands.

Following Unilever’s decision, Switzerland-based food producer Nestle joined the move in April, also deciding to suspend purchases of CPO from SMART.

Greenpeace’s report on APP accuses the paper company of sourcing raw materials from two forest areas in Riau that are supposed to be protected, Bukit Tigapuluh and Kerumantan forests. The two areas are the habitats for endangered species including the Sumatran tiger.

The status of land is a constant source of conflict in Indonesia due to complicated and overlapping laws, poor enforcement regulations and deeply entrenched corruption through all levels of government.

“The company’s commitment to produce sustainable commodities are hardly worth the paper it is written on, and some of the world’s best-known brands are literally pulping the planet by buying from them,” Greenpeace Southeast Asian forests campaigner Bustar Maitar told reporters on Tuesday.

Bustar added, “We have not calculated the damages that the APP had caused on the two forests.”

Greenpeace said other giant retailers such as Walmart and Hypermart and fast food franchisers such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King and Dunkin’ Donuts all sourced products from APP. The report also lists WH Smith, the retail group, Corporate Express, the Dutch office supplies company now owned by Staples, and PaperlinX, the Australian paper merchant.

Sinar Mas Managing Director Gandhi Sulistiyanto denied all accusations made by Greenpeace and argued that the environmental group had a sinister agenda behind their campaign.

“They are part of the global competition. We suspect that Sinar Mas is merely an intermediate target,” Gandhi said over the phone. He added, “The NGO’s main target is the government. Our commodities have the potential to be the country’s main export.”

He said it was strange that Greenpeace was only attacking his company and hardly attacking other companies.

He stated that his company would this month release verification work conducted by independent consultants to counter all of Greenpeace’s accusations.

For the verification process, SMART has appointed two independent consultants, Control Union Certification (CUC) of the Netherlands and the British Standards Institute Group (BSI) through their representative offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and in Singapore.

Sinar Mas, which was founded in 1962 by prominent Indonesian entrepreneur Eka Tjipta Wijawa, currently comprises hundreds of incorporated companies with a total of 150,000 employees and an asset value worth over US$20 billion, with a presence in Asia, North America, Europe and Australia. (rch)

Related Article:

Greenpeace Urges Wal-Mart, Yum to Stop Buying Sinar Mas Paper

ADB Calls for Asia and Pacific to Make Transition to Solar Power

Asia Development Bank, 6 July 2010

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Many countries in Asia and the Pacific are well-suited to solar power initiatives, and incentives and low-cost financing mechanisms should be made available to help the region make the transition possible, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda said yesterday.

“The Asia and Pacific region has the right combination of elements – demand for energy, access to sunlight and arid land, technological maturity, and a sound investment climate,” Mr. Kuroda said at the First Asia Solar Energy Forum in Manila.

However, Mr. Kuroda said that obstacles such as high up-front capital costs of investing in solar energy and a high-risk perception had to date been keeping many solar energy investors on the sidelines.

“As a result, there is a risk of ‘Solar Divide’ where developing countries cannot receive the benefit of environmental technology despite its large potential,” Mr. Kuroda said. “The role of multilateral development institutions, such as ADB and its partners, should be to play a catalytic role to overcome these institutional capacity, policy, technology, and financing barriers.”

The two-day forum, a part of the Asian Solar Energy Initiative (ASEI) announced by ADB earlier this year, brought together some 200 policy makers and solar energy-related professionals from 34 ADB member countries.

The event was hosted by ADB in partnership with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).

Under ASEI, ADB targets to catalyze projects for about 3,000 megawatts in solar power by 2013. The ASEI also includes the establishment of a knowledge platform named the Asia Solar Energy Forum, support for project preparation, and direct financing of solar energy projects.

It will also help raise concessional funds from donor countries to partly mitigate risks of the high up-front capital costs of investing in solar energy, and design other innovative ways to attract private-sector investment.

In her closing remarks at the Manila event on Tuesday, Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Ursula Schaefer-Preuss said the forum represented a step towards a solar energy revolution in the Asia and Pacific region.

“Solar power has the potential to promote low-carbon growth, ensure energy security, increase access to energy for all and achieve ADB’s overall objective of poverty reduction,” she said. Ms. Schaefer-Preuss also announced that the second meeting of the forum will take place in Tokyo in December.

About ADB

Bali hotels association: "green" for everyone

Antara News, Tuesday, May 25, 2010 00:30 WIB

Denpasar (ANTARA News) - The Bali Hotels Association (BHA),a group of over 100 star-rated hotels in Bali held an environment workshop at Kuta`s Hard Rock Hotel, as a part of series to provide a new concept of green for everyone.

"The workshop contributes to BHA`s endeavors to furthermore educate and train its employees as part of its social responsibility to provide a better and cleaner future for all local communities", Gareth Warne, BHA Director of Environment, and GM of Nusa Lembongan Resort & Sail Sensations Catamaran, said in Denpasar, Monday.

The workshop covered an unusually wide range of green subjects from solar water heating to biofuel production, from kitchen oil to consultancy on sustainable development.

During eight lectures over 100 participants had been informed of practical hands on solutions on saving energy, water management, recycling, carbon offset, and green corporate social responsibility programs.

The available choice of green technologies and solutions such as LED lighting run on just 20 percent of conventional energy consumption.

Also, biodegradable plastic products dissolving into virtually nothing after about one year amazed experts and laymen alike.

Certificates of appreciation were given out to 30 BHA hotels participating in EcoBali`s and Tetra Pak`s `Environmental Awareness and Recycling of Beverage Cartons Program`.

The very successful initiative is a major promoter of environmental good practice and education within Bali`s hotel industry.

An MoU signed between BHA, Tetra Pack Indonesia, and EcoBali is cementing future cooperation in the recycling and green education sector.

Presentations were given by Contained Energy, Caritas Switzerland, Plant a Tree Today (PATT), Little Tree, Eco-Leadership, Gadjah Tunggal Plastindo (OXO12), Tetra Pack Indonesia, as well as EcoBali. The event itself was sponsored by Gadjah Tunggal Plastindo and Tetra Pack Indonesia.

Another BHA workshop on energy and waste management is planned for the end of 2010.

The Bali Hotels Association is a professional organization star-rated hotels and resorts in Bali. Members include general managers from 100 hotels and resorts, representing 14,500 hotel rooms and 22,000 employees in Bali.

Government Outlines 5-year plan to ‘Cut Oil Use 25%'

Jakarta Globe, Reva Sasistiya & Agence France-Presse, April 26, 2010

A worker at a geothermal energy plant. The Energy Ministry has announced an ambitious plan to reduce oil use by 25 percent by using the alternative energy.

The government plans to cut national oil consumption by more than a quarter within five years by turning to Indonesia’s vast, untapped geothermal power sources, an Energy Ministry official said on Sunday.

As the World Geothermal Conference opened in Bali, Sukhyar, the ministry’s head of geology, told the Jakarta Globe that developing 4,000 megawatts of geothermal capacity by 2014, as planned under the second phase of a “fast-track” generating program, would save 60 million barrels of oil a year. It would thus offset slipping national oil production and help Indonesia trade millions of tons of carbon credits generated by the cleaner energy.

Sukhyar said the country’s energy road map called for more than 9,000 MW of geothermal power — extracted from natural heat stored deep in the earth — to be developed by 2025, saving a total of four billion barrels of oil. “That is magnificent,” he said.

It won’t be easy. If there is any country in the world where geothermal makes sense it is Indonesia. Yet despite its natural advantages, it lags behind the United States and the Philippines in geothermal energy production.

An estimated 40 percent of global geothermal power reserves are in Indonesia. That is about 27,000 MW in annual capacity, but Energy Ministry data says only 1,198 MW has so far been tapped.

One of the biggest obstacles is cost. The nation currently relies mostly on dirty coal-fired power plants using locally produced coal. A geothermal plant costs about twice as much, and can take many more years to get onstream.

“An investment of $12 billion is needed to add 4,000 MW of capacity,” energy analyst Herman Darnel Ibrahim estimated, putting into context a promise late last year of $400 million in financing from lenders including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

“Field exploration can take three to five years, suitability studies for funding takes a year, while building the plant itself takes three years,” he added.

The government hopes to raise $12 billion in investment in the fast-track program’s second phase. It is also seeking help from private investors and partners including Japan and the United States, and it is making its case at this week’s conference in Bali, at which 2,000 participants from 85 countries are expected.

Surya Darma, head of the Indonesian Geothermal Association, said developing the country’s capacity meant $50 billion worth of investment opportunities.

Energy Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh said the Bali forum would be useful for Indonesia to attract investors, as corporate chief officers from around the world would leave with a greater appreciation of the benefits of geothermal power and the opportunities that Indonesia offered.

Geothermal fans welcomed the recent completion of negotiations between a consortium of US, Japanese and Indonesian companies and state electricity firm PT PLN over a 340 MW project in Sumatra. The Sarulla project will be Indonesia’s second biggest geothermal plant, after the Wayang Windu facility in West Java.

Meanwhile, several firms such as Tata and Chevron have submitted bids to build a plant of up to 200 MW in North Sumatra.

Editorial here

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US Embassy Makes Indonesians Go Online for Visa Applications

Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari, April 14, 2010

The United States Embassy in Jakarta will adopt a greener approach to visa applications by going paperless next month, an official said Wednesday.

Jeffrey Tunis, consul general of the embassy in Jakarta, said that starting May 1, all visa applications must be submitted online instead of printed out and brought to the embassy.

“We have entered the Internet age,” he said, adding that the application process will be easier if done online.

The new form, DS 160, will be available to download on the embassy’s Web site, he said. After filing online, applicants must wait for approval from the consular office for an interview.

Robert Hawkins, the embassy’s vice consul, warned people to be aware of illegal agents offering quick visas. He said they often tricked applicants into using forged documents, which in the end were not approved.

“Around 5 percent of applicants are still caught using false documents,” he said, adding that the embassy approves an average of 60,000 applications per year.

Of that number, 40,000 are for business and tourism purposes, 8,000 are for seamen, and 2,000 for students.

He also said that approximately 80 percent of those applying for business and tourism visas here are granted entrance to the United States.

Tunis said that the number had been decreasing since Sept. 11, 2001, with a further downturn during the global financial crisis beginning in 2008.

“We used to get around 80,000 before that,” he said, “nowadays, people don’t travel as much.”

He said that the process of getting a visa is more complicated since the attack on the World Trade Center in New York. However, he encouraged more Indonesians to apply.

“If an applicant has all the required documents, the application should not take longer than two days,” he said.

Tunis also said that people with certain Muslim names should not worry about being denied a visa, as many fear.

“All names will be scanned with our database,” he said.

However, he said, people with certain names will go through additional scanning.

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China to build electric bicycle factory in East Kalimantan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 04/13/2010 7:08 PM

Chinese electric bicycle producer Zhejiang LVJIA Vehicle Industry Co. Ltd has planned to build a factory in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek Ishak said Tuesday after signing a memorandum of understanding together with Zhejiang manager Taizhou Zhejiang that his province had allocated 50 hectares of land for the factory construction.

"The electric bicycle is without fuel, it fits East Kalimantan Green program," he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The electric bicycle would be sold at US$600 a unit

Tune Your Radios to a Greener Jakarta

Jakarta Globe, Elisabeth Oktofani, April 04, 2010

A Green Radio initiative has planted 7,000 trees in Gunung Gede Pangrango park. (Photo courtesy of Green Radio)

For those stuck twirling the dial during smoggy commutes, Green Radio is a breath of fresh air for those who like their news mixed with a daily dose of environmental responsibility.

Broadcasting on 89.2-FM, Green Radio is the only news station in Jakarta whose main focus is educating listeners about the big and small changes they can make to benefit the environment.

“Green Radio was inspired by the floods in 2007 that left more than 70 percent of the Jakarta area drowned,” said Santosa, the station’s managing director. “There must be something wrong with the environment, so one day I came up with an idea to change our previous station, Radio Utan Kayu, which focused on more general issues, to Green Radio.”

The station’s tag line is “The eco-lifestyle of Jakarta,” and Santosa said more than 200,000 people tune in daily across Greater Jakarta to listen to news, environmental reports and discussions.

And the small station’s influence extends beyond the reach of its radio transmitters. Besides broadcasting a message urging environmental consciousness, Green Radio has also spearheaded programs aimed at getting their audience actively involved. “Green Radio has on-air activities and also off-air activities because we want to encourage the public, through our listeners, to get involved to save the planet and help to avoid floods in Jakarta such as the 2007 flood,” Santosa said.

And it isn’t all just talk. From day one, Green Radio has used solar panels to power its 18-hour broadcast day.

“I decided to use solar panels because they are very environmentally friendly and use an unlimited natural resource: the sun,” Santosa said.

So far, Green Radio has organized three initiatives: the Friends of the Forest tree adoption campaign at Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, a clean-up of the area around Monas in June and a biopore creation workshop. Biopores are small holes drilled in the ground to decrease flooding.

Green Radio collaborates with private sector and government organizations as well as members of its audience, Santosa said, adding that the station has had more than 2000 individual participants take part in its greening programs.

Through its Friends of the Forest adoption program, individuals and organizations donate Rp 108,000 ($12) to have a tree planted in a deforested area in Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park in West Java. Green Radio has collected enough money to plant 7,031 trees in a 10-hectare area over the last 18 months, decreasing soil erosion at the farms that line the park’s borders.

“We’ve already got 15 big organizations and 300 individual adopters,” Santosa said. The program was created in partnership with the park and Conservation International Indonesia.

He added that the program was also helping reclaim parts of the forest from local farmers who use the park to plant crops, and trains those farmers for new careers in eco-tourism. At a cost of Rp 290,000 per person for two days and one night, the tour provides lodgings in a campground or tree house, five meals, guides, porters and the planting of a tree.

“The income goes to local farmers who help us organize the eco-tours. They prepare the food and act as forest guides and porters.” Santosa said, adding that some farmers were also given goats, rabbits and honeybees to breed.

In addition to Friends of the Forest, Green Radio has also developed a biopore program, active since July 2009.

“The biopore program is a regular training program that teaches people how to make small holes [in the ground] for water absorption. They can absorb more water in the rainy season and also can be used to produce compost.” Santosa said.

Each biopore is designed with a 10-centimeter opening and with a depth of one meter.

Through partnership with the Body Shop retail chain and Mall Ciputra, Green Radio’s program has been responsible for the creation of 1,500 biopores across Jakarta.

“We are working together with these caring communities to help reach the government’s goal of creating one million biopores,” Santosa said. “Hopefully, these biopores will help us to avoid another big flood like the Jakarta flood in 2007.”

Bali to host Live Earth concert in April

Avril Holderness-Roddam, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/02/2010 6:51 PM | Arts and Entertainment

Bali will host Live Earth: Run for Water 2010 concert in April that will feature local and International artists who will donate their time to raise awareness of the importance of making clean, safe water available to all people.

Participants in the Run for Water event can enrol to run or walk for six kilometers (the approximate distance walked daily by many women and children around the world in order for them to collect water) on the day, April 18.

During the press conferense celebrities and other people involved with the event discussed the importance of providing suitable water to communities and commented that the way to improve the sistaution is through public awareness and public education.

Celebrities present included Slank, DJ. Anton and the present Puteri Indonesia, Qory Sandioriva. You can find out more about Live Earth at the official website: http://liveearth.org/en/. JP/ Avril Holderness-Roddam

UI upbeat over completing library mega-project this year

Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/29/2010 6:36 PM | Jakarta

The University of Indonesia (UI) is confident it will complete the construction of its new library, which will be one of the biggest and advanced libraries in the world, in June.

"The building's structure is complete and we are now about to finish the interior," UI spokesman Vishnu Juwono told The Jakarta Post on Friday. "We hope we can open the library by June."

Located next to the campus’ main lake, the new library, which will be open to students and the general public, has an eco-friendly design, with part of its power needs supplied by solar energy.

The eight-story library, built on 2.5-hectares of land, is designed to house more than three million books and facilitate up to 20,000 visitors a day.

The university is expecting the new library -- estimated to cost more than Rp 100 billion (US$9.8 million) -- to bring it one step closer to becoming a world-class university.

Construction of the library started in June last year.

Indonesia Plans $1 Billion Green Investment Fund

Jakarta Globe, January 26, 2010

The fund is intended to provide equity to help environmentally-friendly projects get bank loans. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)

Indonesia plans a $1 billion green investment fund this year to drive infrastructure developments that aid growth and help cut greenhouse gas emissions, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday.

Indonesia has promised to slash its emissions by at least 26 percent from business as usual levels by 2020 but recently re-elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also vowed to boost economic growth to 7 percent or more by 2014.

At global climate talks in Copenhagen last month, Yudhoyono announced a plan to develop the Indonesia Green Investment Fund, which will catalyse infrastructure development that could speed economic growth, boost food and clean water production and also help cut emissions blamed for global warming.

Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund the Government Investment Unit will put $100 million into the fund and a further $900 million will come from foreign governments including Norway and Australia, plus institutional investors, said Edward Gustely, a senior adviser to the Ministry of Finance.

"We're in the initial stages but the target is to have this fund operational within this year," Gustely told Reuters, adding the fund would rival Brazil's Amazon Fund in size and scope. "There's no reason why this can't, in the next five years, scale to $5 billion or more."

Brazil launched its Amazon Fund last year to promote sustainable development and scientific research in the world's largest rain forest, with donations from European countries and the first projects unveiled last month.

Indonesia last year became the first country to launch a legal framework for a U.N.-backed scheme called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, allowing polluters to earn tradeable carbon credits by paying developing nations not to chop down their trees.

Indonesia's green investment fund will not offer loans or grants but rather top-up funding needed for projects where a bank lender is seeking an additional equity injection.

"Many technology providers and project sponsors don't have the balance sheet to top up the required equity needed to secure financing," said Gustely. "We would come in and play a catalyst role to ensure good projects with good asset quality, with good expertise and proper management, can be deployed and proceed."

The Copenhagen talks failed to achieve a legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but projects like the Indonesia Green Investment Fund were a way for countries to take initiative at home, said Gustely.

"This is driven by how to create more food, water and energy in a sustainable fashion while trying to achieve Indonesia's growth objectives," he said.

Fitrian Ardiansyah, climate change programme director for WWF Indonesia, welcomed the fund but said more needed to be done to reduce Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions.

"The Indonesian government heavily subsidies fossil fuels, but investment in renewable energy sources is too expensive. The government must help the private sector by making investment in renewable energy sources cheaper, which will address the problem. But at the moment coal plants continue to be built, which does not help," he said.

Reuters